Rockets owner ready to ante up for big playoff run

With roughly two weeks before the start of the NBA’s free-agency season, the poker player who owns the Rockets hopes to go all in.

“I have enough money, but I don’t have enough championships,” Rockets owner Leslie Alexander said. “If you’re not in it to win championships, you shouldn’t be in it.”

Alexander said he could not comment about any detail of the Rockets’ free-agency plans, including the planned presentation to players. But he said he hopes to have the sort of team to dramatically increase the team’s payroll, including paying a luxury tax.

Alexander said that watching the NBA Finals offered a reminder of how badly he wants to return his team to contender’s status. The Rockets won consecutive championships in Alexander’s first seasons as team owner but have won just one playoff round since 1997. Since the departures of Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, they have been restructured with the acquisition of All-Star James Harden and salary-cap room to pursue a max contract free agent next month.

“I would be thrilled to pay a tax if we have a championship-caliber team,” Alexander said. “Obviously, you have to get the players to pay the taxes. You have to get great players; otherwise, you’re just spinning your wheels. When you get the great players, you don’t want to lose them. You have to pay whatever it takes to keep them. That’s when it becomes really fun to be an owner and to be a fan of the Rockets.

Thrill of victory

“You’re going to be playing very, very late into the season. We’d be playing now, which would be really great. I miss that very, very much. And the thrill of it and the spine tingling in your body, you only get when you get to that point. In order to get there, you’re going to have to have a great team. If you have a great team, you’re going to necessarily have to pay taxes.

“We were actually going to be paying (tax penalties) when Yao and Tracy went down. Since then, we’ve been rebuilding to get to the point we could have those players together. You couldn’t overpay players now because then you’d never get to that point to be a champion.”

‘Smarter’ approach

Alexander cited past expenses ranging from top salaries for coaches to many purchases of draft picks along with this summer’s $4 million overhaul of the team’s locker room, training room and weight room.

The Rockets had the youngest team in the NBA last season and with it, the smallest payroll despite paying 24 players (not including players they traded) because of the many roster moves. Alexander said that was part of “smart” rebuilding to position the team to acquire Harden and still be able to pursue a top free agent.

“This is smarter, rather than just blow money and have a team that would be stymied over the cap and over the tax and never have a team that has championship potential,” Alexander said. “Then, every year you’re going to be in the middle of the pack and never win anything.

“If you’re smart about the draft and trading, and getting the right players at the right prices, you can have those players when you get other great players like with the James trade. Then you can be great.”

Photo: Joe Robbins / Getty Images

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